Christianity, teaching us that we should love everyone, tells us that we are called to embrace everyone, lifting people up by our words and deeds. We are not to be selfish, looking only after ourselves. We must not place our inordinate desires above the needs of others. We truly should be concerned about others, looking after their welfare (cf. Philip. 2:4). If someone is in need, if someone has a great burden in their live, and we can help them,... Read more
While it was long attributed to St. Gregory the Illuminator, evidence suggests that The Oft-Repeated Discourses was written by an anonymous 6th century Armenian author. As the work is clearly one engaged with monastic discipline and ideas, exhorting its readers to embrace or continue on with an ascetic journey, we often find contained in it the kind of harsh exhortations which is normally associated with monastic literature, including various warnings of what could happen to someone if they do not... Read more
Human nature is not as unchangeable as we often assume it to be; it is alterable, it is able to be transformed. It can become greater than what it was at its inception. It was never meant to be unchanging, to be stuck in the condition it found itself in at its beginning. There is no pure, unalterable nature given to humanity. Saying this is not intended to suggest that there is no such thing as human nature, as there... Read more
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Matt. 8:20 RSV). Jesus, the Son of Man, was the incarnate Word of God who had divested himself of all his divine riches in order to become one of us. In this way, he became one of the poor on earth so that we could become rich in the kingdom of God. In his... Read more
St. Augustine warns us against judging others, thinking that we are superior to them because we believe we are holier than them. We must not judge others to be sinners worthy of our scorn because they do not meet the expectations we have for them, expectations based on our likes and dislikes and what we find ourselves easily able to do. This is because when we do this, we embrace many vices, such as pride, vices which indicate we are... Read more
Rejoice, and again, rejoice, celebrate the glory of the resurrection! Let us shout out with cries of joy, “Christ is Risen!” Let us rise with Christ, sharing in the joy and power of the resurrection for ourselves, casting aside those thoughts and practices which would get in the way of our Paschal celebration. We have been given a great grace, a grace which transcends anything we can say or do for ourselves. Indeed, it can be said that all that... Read more
Christ is Risen! Death was overcome by its own devices; it no longer reigns supreme. That which ends our temporal existence has come to and encounter the immanent eschaton, revealing that it too has its own limit, its own end. Death has been deconstructed. It still plays a role in temporal history, but that role has been changed, for it now has become the gate by which all living things go through in order to come to Christ. It is... Read more
“The logos is about to say something, and I say that Christ sought God with the hands, on behalf of the whole cosmos, stretching them on the wood and making them fast so that, at that time, he would pray to him with stretching hands and when the whole body and soul were stretched together, not ever the body, but over the whole cosmos, on behalf of the whole cosmos.” [1] The Logos, Jesus, spoke of forgiveness from the cross;... Read more
When Jesus celebrated the Mystical Supper (the Last Supper), those with him did not understand all that was going on. This should not be surprising, because, despite their close proximity to him, they consistently showed their inability to understand all that he said and did. This is why it was only in hindsight, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, were they able to reflect upon it and realize its significance. They probably understood Jesus was connecting himself and what he was... Read more
Despite their ascetic discipline, a discipline established to help them pursue the form of holiness connected to their own particular charism, many of the greatest desert fathers and mothers understood that discipline should not get in the way of mercy. They rightfully understood that the promotion of extreme discipline, especially with legalistic rigor, without any notion of mercy, leads to despair. One of the ways abbas and ammas promoted mercy was by making it clear that monastic communities should avoid... Read more
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